February, 2012

Before they fell to the conquering forces of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, vast swathes of central Europe — including what is now France, Switzerland, and Austria — were ruled by Celtic-speakers.

They were by all accounts a raucous bunch: classical writers describe them as fighting “like wild beasts” (and occasionally naked); they were accomplished head-hunters; and, according to first century Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, Celtic men openly preferred male lovers.

The term Celt itself is a perversion of the word keltoi, used by the ancient Greeks to refer to certain ‘barbarian’ tribes (eternal snobs, they considered languages other than their own to be little more than childish babble, hence the term barbarous). Little is known about the ancient ancestors of these Gaels, Gauls, and Galatians. The only written histories are those compiled by the Greeks and Romans, both sworn enemies of the Celts. As Standingstone.com artfully puts it, “It’s a bit like trying to reconstruct Lakota culture from the diaries of General Custer.”

The Celts Today

Fast-forward through more than 2,000 years of turbulent history, and Celtic-speaking peoples are today found only in the British Isles and western France. Six tongues survive, namely Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. Today, rather less snobbishly than during the first millennium, the word Celtic is used to describe not only this branch of the Indo-European languages, but also an extraordinary musical legacy.

It’s a legacy not to be confused with the ‘Celtomania’ that swept the popular music scene during the 1990s. As an article entitled Celtic Kitsch that appeared in Salon.com snippily notes: “The arrival of Celtomania has been a mixed blessing… More often than not, the commodity being sold in the Celtic section of your neighbourhood Tower is some sort of nonspecific windswept spirituality — Windham Hill-style tranquillity with a sexy accent.

Once upon a time, the musicians on Irish traditional albums were hairy guys in cable-knit jumpers with fiddles. Now, Enya and the members of Clannad dress like extras in a college production of Riders to the Sea, walk moodily along cliffs and make cryptic allusions to Molly Bloom, the Children of Lir, the Tuatha Dé Danann.”

Enter traditional stalwarts Kheltica, a Phnom Penh-based folk band which offers an “entente chordial of musical traditions from France and the British Isles.” Its eclectic mix of songs and dances from Brittany blended with traditional Irish and Scottish folk music is rivalled only by that of the band’s make-up: a singer and a mandolin player from Scotland; a British piper; French drummer; Russian guitarist; South African bass player; Malaysian violinist, and French flautist. “We had a Khmer violinist,” says Jean-Claude Dhuez, said flautist, “but since he got married, he’s disappeared!”

The man behind Cambodia’s first ever ceilidh, held in 2005, Jean-Claude admits to not being a true Celt (he was born in northern, not western, France). “I don’t have any Celtic roots — although some people say everyone’s Celtic, especially in France.” What he lacks in genetics, he more than makes up for with enthusiasm: the eight-member group, one of Cambodia’s largest, represents the latest manifestation of a project he’s been trying to get off the ground for almost a decade.

It was worth the wait: Kheltica’s shows are among the most rousing in the capital. When the band plays the FCC, brace for a musical maelstrom — and be prepared to take the floor for some swift-footed circle dancing.

American rocker Jerry Joseph, having succumbed early on to the rock ‘n’ roll fantasy, is finally enjoying an age of success.

Hard rock has long been known for its diabolical associations, from Jimmy Page’s devout following of “The Great Beast” Aleister Crowley to Keith Richard’s obsession with the occult. But only one man can lay claim to being the inspiration for ultra-violent serial killer Mickey Knox in “Natural Born Killers,” Oliver Stone’s frenzied study of the relationship between the mass media and mass murderers.

Enter Jerry Joseph, a close friend of Hollywood icon Woody Harrelson who played the shaven-headed sadist in Stone’s 1994 blockbuster. His biography reads like a how-to of hard living. Born in Oregon in 1961 “with a knack for getting into trouble”, he was banished to New Zealand by his father as a troubled schoolboy in the hope it would straighten him out.

Far from triggering the desired epiphany, what ultimately followed was guitars, motorcycle gangs, deportation and, eventually, addiction to heroin: “It’s funny how these things never quite work out the way you want them to, isn’t it?”

Founding member and front man of power rock group The Jackmormons (the bassist is a Utah survivor), and billed as “a rocker with an emotional scalpel that cuts deep every time,” Joseph has since turned the darkness of his past into gritty, soul-stirring poetry. Cathartic lyrics, wrestling with everything from drug addiction to suicide, are delivered via fierce chainsaw vocals in a testament to the existential trials of living life on the road.

“Sounding occasionally like John Mellencamp’s older, wiser and psychologically mixed-up sibling, Joseph writes complex, image-laden songs and infuses them with plenty of attitude, soulfulness and swagger,” the Washington Post has written of his work — the result, he acknowledges, of what at times “has been a rough ride.”

“That’s why I was the character study for Woody’s role in Natural Born Killers — that and the fact I had a shaved head at the time,” Joseph says. “Woody’s one of my best friends; has been since way before he made the big time.” The two came together over a shared love of psychedelic rock gurus The Grateful Dead, playing side by side briefly in Urban Messiah. Woody also pushed for Joseph’s involvement in the “Natural Born Killers” soundtrack, “but the producers didn’t like my stuff; they thought my sound was too dark for a film about serial killers — can you imagine that?”

It is a darkness rivalled perhaps only by that of Joseph’s sense of humour. Of his success in overcoming heroin addiction (he recently married and is now the proud father of a young son), he is surprisingly reticent. “You hit yourself in the head with a hammer for ten years, then you stop doing it and everybody cheers and gives you a cake, congratulating you on your survival instinct,” he says. “I’m not sure how much of an achievement that really is.”

Currently working on a new album and the subject of a film-in-the-making, Joseph — who has played alongside the likes of Neil Young and The Flaming Lips — says fans should brace themselves for “a big rock assault.” He will be joined during the Cambodian leg of his Southeast Asia solo tour by Frank Ruffolo of uber-lively polka band El Dealbreakers. The initiated should listen out for tracks from recent album “Into The Lovely,” as well as his more intimate 2004 solo release, “Cherry.”

British singer-songwriter Billy Page, on a 7-year jaunt through Asia, makes a second stop in Phnom Penh.

Billy Page has been known to take his music to new heights — literally.

Back in October 2005, the acoustic-based singer-songwriter from the UK was among 14 musicians who performed 5,400 meters above sea level on Mt. Everest to an audience of about 100 mountaineers.

An Australian singer came up with the idea of doing the world’s highest gig to raise money for the Nepal Balbalika Trust, a charity that helps impoverished children in Nepal, says Page, who plays the FCC Phnom Penh on Feb. 18.

“Everest was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I’d been out to Nepal to play at schools and orphanages and became involved in a charity raising money for impoverished children there and saw how bad things were for these kids,” he says about the gig that raised about US$47,000 for the charity.

“It was one of the most euphoric experiences of my life. On the last leg we all got up at 4 a.m. in the morning to reach the summit. I went to grab my water bottle — it was a frozen block of ice. So, yes it was cold! However, when we did the gig at 8:30 in the morning, the sun came out and it was fantastic to see over 100 people come to watch us do the gig.”

Page, whose songs tend to cover love, travel and tragedy, counts Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Smiths, REM and Radiohead among his main influences. Born and raised in London, England, Page got involved in the theater and worked at the BBC doing recordings. It was in his late teens when he got involved in a rock band in Germany.

“It really started when I went to Germany with my guitar at the age of 18 and got involved with an American theater company, acting, singing and dancing. I started doing gigs there at that time and also sang with a rock band out there,” he recalls. “I have always had a love of music from a young age and started writing tunes from when I first picked up a guitar.”

Since then, Page has managed to develop a strong following while producing five CDs in the process: Only in Love, Mexico, Wanna Fly, I Won’t be Lost, and Not in My World.

He’s spent the past seven years touring Asia, taking the stage in China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, where he previously performed at The FCC.

“I love Cambodia — I keep coming back. The people here are warm-hearted and friendly and I’ve had great gigs here.”

Billy Page will play the FCC in Phnom Penh on Feb. 18. The show begins at 8:30 p.m. No cover.